Crusader Chronicle

Lord, loving and mighty God,

you fulfilled your promise to save us

when Jesus, your Son, became one of us.

We are no longer in the dark,

for you let your light shine on us.

Bring us your salvation now,

set us really free from our sins,

let us become fully human with Jesus

and go with him in your way of peace and love.

Let him be our strength,

our constant companion on the road,

that through him and growing in his humanity,

we may be your beloved sons and daughters.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

One of the traditions that I have always liked about the Catholic Church is that we celebrate important times of the Church year for more than just one day. The season of Lent is 40 days long, which leads to Easter Sunday and the Easter season, which is seven weeks long. We begin our liturgical year with the Advent Season, which is four weeks long, which leads to the current Christmas season, which is two weeks long. While many people stop saying "Merry Christmas!" after December 25, we continue to proclaim "Merry Christmas" in the Catholic Church for a few weeks, as each of the days after Christmas is part of the Christmas season.

Along the way, during the first week of the Christmas season, we celebrate many feast days - the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr, on December 26; the feast of St. John the Evangelist, the writer of the Gospel of John, on December 27; the feast of the Holy Innocents, who were killed by order of King Herod in an attempt to kill the baby Jesus, on December 28; the feast of the Holy Family, which we celebrated this year on December 30; and the feast of Mary, Mother of God, which we celebrate each year on January 1.

In this first week of the Christmas season, even as we are reminded of the birth of our Savior, that God became man in order to be with us, we are also reminded right away that God sent His Son to bring us to heaven, that God wants us to proclaim the Gospel, that God gives us an example of how to live holy lives in our own families, and that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is our mother too. The Church, in her wisdom, schedules our liturgical days to teach us and to guide us.

So, let us continue to celebrate Christmas and God's gift to us of Himself. Merry Christmas to us all!

Remember us, O God;

from age to age be our comforter.

You have given us the wonder of time,

blessings in days and nights, seasons and years.

Bless us at the turning of the year

and fill the months ahead with the bright hope

that is ours in the coming of Christ.

You are our God, living and reigning, forever and ever.

Amen.

(United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)

Pope Emeritus Benedict the Sixteenth died on December 31 at the age of 95. Please join in praying for the repose of his soul, and please read the attached statement from Archbishop Perez of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

We are already planning for registration and class numbers for the 2023-2024 school year.

If you are a current family and are planning to register a new child from your family for the

2023-2024 school year, please contact Mrs. Crozier at hcrozier@sischool.org as soon as possible.

St. Ignatius usually switches to the winter uniform on November 1st. If your child has not already begun wearing the winter uniform, please have your child switch to the winter uniform.

Our Family Directory is complete! Thank you for updating your information. You can view and print a copy of the Family Directory by clicking on the file below.

Thank you to all the families who have already participated in our SchoolStore fundraiser!

Many of our teachers have received generous gift certificates from their students. If your family has not registered, there is still time, prizes are still available. Click the link below if you want to participate:

https://www.schoolstore.net/cgi/SetSchool?secheck=1&SchoolID=0000120009

6th Grade Honors Math has once again been running the on-campus school store. They will sell items from 8:30 am to 8:45 am daily. Items are $1.00 or under. Please send change when possible. Last year's store raised over $70. The money was used to buy new materials for the math classrooms.

Thank you for following the procedures for car drop off and car pick up.

If you need to pick up your son or daughter prior to regular dismissal time, please be sure to pick up no later than 2:15 pm, in order to keep all of our dismissals flowing smoothly.

Car drop off begins at 8 am. If you do not see a school staff member in the drop off area, please do not drop off your child or children and leave them outside the doors under the blue canopy; please wait until a staff member comes out and opens the doors.

For car drop off, please stay in the drop off line and do not drive around the car in front of you. Wait until the car in front of you pulls forward before you pull forward.

For car drop off, please do your best to make sure your child is ready to exit the car when you pull up and stop. Especially if you are the first car in line, please drive away once your child is out of the car and your car door is closed. This will help with the flow of traffic in the car drop off line.

For car pick up, please wait until the school staff member gives the signal for your line of cars to pull out and drive out of the parking lot before starting to drive away.

For Pre-K drop off and pick up, please follow the procedures, leaving the lanes with cones at the ends empty for parents to drive out once they have walked their Pre-K students to the Pre-K building. Please take extra care as you are driving, parking, and leaving after Pre-K drop off and pick up.

If you have someone dropping off or picking up your child that has not dropped off or picked up at St. Ignatius before, please inform them of the procedures so that there will be no issues.

The Home and School Association is thankful for all the parent support for all our recent events. Please mark your calendars for our upcoming events! See the flyer below for more information on the Santa Shop!

Volunteer Clearances

As a friendly reminder, any parent or guardian who would like to volunteer at our school and church events, MUST have up-to-date clearances on file with Jayne Marcinowski, the Safe Environment Coordinator, at the church rectory. She can be reached at hr@stignatius.church. The following link will take you to the Church Safe Environment website where you can follow instructions to obtain clearances.

http://www.stignatius.church/safe.html#more

FAMILY DINNER

We are happy to announce that we will hold our annual Home and School Family Dinner again this school year on Saturday, January 28 from 6:30 PM to 9 PM in the Church basement. Please mark your calendars! More details to come later. We are looking for volunteers to help with this event! If you would have interest in helping with this event, please contact Jillian O'Hara at jillian.ohara1883@gmail.com.

Tuesday, January 3, is our first day of school after Christmas vacation. We look forward to seeing everyone back in the classroom!

Tuesday, January 3, is also our next Class Mass. Grade 3B will join the St. Ignatius parishioners at the 9:00 am Mass.

Friday, January 13, will be our next Friday school Mass. We will be honoring our Crusader of the Month students for the month of December at this Mass. (Please note: this is a change from the original First Friday School Mass date of January 6.)

Sunday, January 29, through Friday, February 3, is Catholic Schools Week. A more detailed schedule of our events for that week will be coming soon.

If you have not already taken care of it, please check the school website for Medical Records and Immunizations, under the Parents Tab, for the new school year. The Pennsylvania State law requirements are explained there, and the medical forms are linked for those who may still need them. Please be sure to complete all immunizations and dental examinations required for your child's grade level.

For those of you who need to leave medications at school for your children, please complete the forms from the Health Office. Please bring the medication with the completed forms to the Health Office. See the Health Office Aide or the nurse (Wednesdays only) for more information.

Please check the school website (sischool.org) for updated documents (2022-2023 School Handbook, Responsible Use Policy for Technology, etc.) and for accompanying parent and student signature forms. Please return signed forms as soon as possible. Signature forms are attached here as well.

Save the Date!

Thursday, February 16, 2023 – 7:00pm

Event: Walking with Purpose LIVE with Lisa Brenninkmeyer

Join us for Walking with Purpose LIVE with Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Lisa Brennkmeyer as she shares her talk Strong Yet Tender: Building Resilience in an Age of Trauma. Are you tired of feeling untethered and overwhelmed? Most of our families are experiencing anxiety, woundedness, and stress. But that does not need to be your story. Come and see how, through God’s help, you can build resilience in an age of trauma. Every woman is welcome!

Presenter: Lisa Brenninkmeyer, Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Walking with Purpose

Location: St. Joseph Parish, 340 Manor Ave, Downingtown, PA 19335

More info: Registration opens 6 weeks prior to the event; More details at Save the Date!

Thursday, February 16, 2023 – 7:00pm

Event: Walking with Purpose LIVE with Lisa BrenninkmeyerJoin us for Walking with Purpose LIVE with Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Lisa Brennkmeyer as she shares her talk Strong Yet Tender: Building Resilience in an Age of Trauma. Are you tired of feeling untethered and overwhelmed? Most of our families are experiencing anxiety, woundedness, and stress. But that does not need to be your story. Come and see how, through God’s help, you can build resilience in an age of trauma. Every woman is welcome!

Presenter: Lisa Brenninkmeyer, Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Walking with Purpose

Location: St. Joseph Parish, 340 Manor Ave, Downingtown, PA 19335

More info: Registration opens 6 weeks prior to the event; More details at https://walkingwithpurpose.com/event/wwp-live-with-lisa-brenninkmeyer-2/

Please see the flyer below - St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish is looking for more adult volunteers to help with the Children's Liturgy of the Word on Sundays. Please prayerfully consider this opportunity and help the children of our parish learn about the readings at Mass each week.

The St. Ignatius of Antioch Boy Scout Troop 230 is recruiting new members. Please consider this great opportunity! See the flyer below for more information.

Please click on the link for information about the Cub Scouts and upcoming events.

https://pack230.org/